Dolphin at SeaWorld Takes a Bite Out of Little Girl

The scene started out innocently enough. A group of children at SeaWorld were feeding dolphins, who all look quite adorable as they poke their heads out of the water to grab their snacks.

But suddenly things took a dark turn.

One overzealous dolphin jumped out of the water with a bit too much enthusiasm and chomped down on eight-year-old Jillian's wrist rather than the food container in her hand. For an instance, it looked like the sea mammal might pull her into the water.

Luckily that didn't happen. But the girl sustained a cut to her hand. "I was thinking it was going to haul me into the water, and this is a little crazy, but I thought it was kind of going to eat my hand off," Jillian explained.

Her father, Jamie Thomas, put the video of the incident on the YouTube "so others can make an informed decision about whether or not the risks to yourself or your child are worth the experience."

Jillian's parents are concerned that SeaWorld doesn't warn patrons about lifting the paper food containers off of the ledge, which seemed to be what triggered the dolphin's dangerous leap. They also didn't think the SeaWorld staff were as attentive as they should have been to Jillian's wound and any potential infections.

For SeaWorld's part, they argue that they quickly "connected with the family" after the incident took place and that Jillian was "treated by a member of our health services team."

The theme park didn't say whether they plan on offering any kind of future warnings on lifting up the food tray.

What do you think? Does this seem like a fluke occurrence? Or is it reason for SeaWorld to alter their policies?